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14 years of Livejournalling, and hopefully, more to come.

:: The Merlion Finds a Temp Home ::

March 29th, 2011

:: The Merlion Finds a Temp Home ::

Realized that I have not blogged for quite a bit,Especially after my overseas business trip. It was just a few weeks ago, when a Japanese colleagueCame to Singapore for an important meeting. I took some effort to host him, together with my team. As he was not particularly fluent with his English language, I tried my best to be the interpreter for the week.We brought him to try the various Singaporean dishes,From Hainanese Chicken Rice, to Assam Fish and then Nasi Padang.Spending time with Ozaki-san became a full-time affair, As we had to rotate between clearing our tasks for the weekWhile spending time with him. And because of the languageBarrier, I ended up being the person that was with him most ofThe time. Notwithstanding, Ozaki-san, visiting our sunny isle for the First time, must have had a good impression of our island state, asWe had never spent so much time in taking care of our Japanese colleagues;Not even his bosses, who visited us on two separate occasions, last year.Bringing Ozaki-san around the touristy spots became an educational experienceFor ourselves - in fact, it was quite some time ago before I went to theCivic side of the Singapore River. As dusk approached, and we walked towardsThe Merlion, I was surprised to see it under construction. It then dusked upon meThat there was this Merlion Hotel concept, which was a special installation As part of the Biennial. I was intrigued, and walked to the end of the jettyTo try to peer into the hotel room to see how it is like. Ozaki-san was Not really keen in the Merlion, which was appropriately dwarfed by the Gigantic Marina Bay Sands. "It's that ship structure!" Ozaki-san exclaimedExcitedly as he posed with MBS for a snapshot, and then some more.In any case, I didn't know how to explain what the Merlion was. And it wasn't really easy to explain it in Japanese. I didn't knowWhy and how Merlion became the Singapore Icon, but For some strange reason, I felt closer to the Merlion than The "Ship building". Perhaps I've grown up with the Merlion,And like many other older parts of Singapore, it hadA resonance with me and what I identify as my Singapore. I didn't know that the hotel room could be booked,Or else I would have booked the room for a night, Just for the fact that it may never happen.Ever again.

a) the merlion was invented by the then STPB to be their logo. the funny thing is they (STB) stopped using it as their logo in 1997. Yes INVENTED. oh it was first used on 26 Mar 1964 so you can wish it Happy Birthday!

you need STB's permission to use it as it is their registered trade mark.

b) all nights at the hotel room were sold out in a matter of minutes.

c) give it a few more years (MBS is barely one! don't forget it only "officially opened" last month!) and a couple of hollywood movies and you will find MBS symbolic of singapore the way the petronas towers or taipei 101 symbolise their cities. It helps that they are near the durians which some might be our other "iconic" building.

I can just never identify with Merlion as a symbol of Singapore. My teacher got so excited about it being a symbol of Singapore, having visited Singapore and seen the Merlion. I didn't have the heart to tell her that it means nothing to me =/ I've a feeling it means much more to tourists than to locals... seeing as that it appears more on tourist souvenirs than on anything we use on a frequent basis (other than plastic bags, I guess).